Indictment: Russians Organized Post-Election Rallies Against Trump

(CNSNews.com) - The indictment released today by the grand jury in the investigation headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller says that after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 the alleged Russian conspirators in the case, while pretending to be Americans, organized rallies both for and against Trump.

One event they organized in New York City on Nov. 12, 2016 was called “Trump is NOT my President.” Another event they organized in Charlotte, North Carolina, on November 19, 2016, was called “Charlotte Against Trump.”

The indictment brings charges against 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies. In a statement releasing the indictment today, the Department of Justice said: “There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.”

This passage on Page 23 of the indictment cites rallies that the alleged Russian conspirators organized against Trump shortly after he was elected:

“Defendants, posing as U.S. persons and creating false U.S. personas, operated social medial pages and groups designed to attract U.S. audiences,” says the indictment.

“These groups and pages, which addressed divisive U.S. political and social issues, falsely claimed to be controlled by U.S. activists when, in fact, they were controlled by defendants,” it says.

“Defendants used the stolen identities of real U.S. persons to post on organization-controlled social media accounts,” it says. “Over time, these social media accounts became defendants’ means to reach significant numbers of Americans for purposes of interfering with the U.S. political system, including the presidential election of 2016.”

At one point, the indictment says that the Russians in the plot denigrated Hillary Clinton, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio during the campaign, and supported Sen. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. But, after Trump was elected, they simultaneously supported and attacked him.

“By 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators used their fictitious online personas to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” says the indictment. “They engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Trump.”

After the election, the strategy of the Russian plotters changed, according to the indictment. It says:

“After the election of Donald Trump in or around November 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators used false U.S. personas to organize and coordinate U.S. political rallies in support of then president-elect Trump, while simultaneously using other false U.S. personas to organize and coordinate U.S. political rallies protesting the results of the 23016 U.S. presidential election. For example, in or around November 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators organized a rally in New York through one organization-controlled group designed to ‘show your support for President-elect Donald Trump’ held on or about November 12, 2016. At the same time, defendants and their co-conspirators, through another organization-controlled group, organized a rally in New York called ‘Trump is NOT my President’ held on or about November 12, 2016. Similarly, defendants and their co-conspirators organized a rally entitled ‘Charlotte Against Trump’ in Charlotte, North Carolina, held on or about November 19, 2016.”

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